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Just a small correction, but IMHO this isn't true for all IE games, but only for the Icewind Dale Series. In Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 it will always be your main character who does the talking, no matter who you select as party leader. I'm not entirely sure about Planescape Torment right now but I think it's the same.
False. You can talk with anybody in Baldur's Gate and receive their charisma bonus (although the dialog may only make sense if the main character were speaking)
Heh, I actually remember getting unique dialog for using Imoen to initiate a conversation in ToB (because she's a Bhaalspawn)
Somebody on Obsidian forums said that when Gaider was informed that you could use any character to initiate a conversation in the Baldur's Gate series, he reacted with surprise. He had written the game as if it worked like PS:T.
If by that you mean "select a 16:9 resolution", it leaves me with black bandes still. Basically, any resolution but the one my computer is currently at gives me black bands. I guess i could change what resolution my computer is currently running at..
If by that you mean "select a 16:9 resolution", it leaves me with black bandes still. Basically, any resolution but the one my computer is currently at gives me black bands. I guess i could change what resolution my computer is currently running at..
TBH I wanted a less obvious party. I started the game with a warrior/thief, barbarian, fighter, cleric, ranger and a mage, and it didn't feel right.
Should I go, for example, with more spellcasting? Both a druid and a cleric? One thing I liked more in AD&D is that multiclassing fucks spellcasters less, due to rising experience tables. A warriord/druid with a given amount of XPs would be 7th/8th level, let's say, compared to a 10th singleclass druid - magic ability, while lower, is still viable. In 3rd edition I really don't feel like cross-classing any casters, a 5/5 druid with warrior levels can hardly cast spells compared to a full druid.
also, more than one mage? a specialized one? which one? does sorcerer have that spell level penalty (gets 2nd tier spells on 4th, rather than 3rd)?
what about monks? I've never used one, my itemization persona hates their no armor/no weapon policy, are they useful, fun to play?
Fighter/Druid makes no sense. Just a waste of spell-levels. However a cleric + a druid would be fine, I think. They both become almost as good at combat as a fighter fairly quickly.
also, more than one mage? a specialized one? which one? does sorcerer have that spell level penalty (gets 2nd tier spells on 4th, rather than 3rd)?
Yep, sorcerer has that penalty, but you can't always rest in IWD2, and sorcerers get many spells per day. Running a party with Druid + Cleric + Sorc + Wiz is certainly viable, but talk about tough beginnings.
False. You can talk with anybody in Baldur's Gate and receive their charisma bonus (although the dialog may only make sense if the main character were speaking)
False. You can talk with anybody in Baldur's Gate and receive their charisma bonus (although the dialog may only make sense if the main character were speaking)
Yes. In fact there are charisma checks right at the beginning of BG1, in Candlekeep. Try to doing the tutorial quests with characters with various charisma stats.
False. You can talk with anybody in Baldur's Gate and receive their charisma bonus (although the dialog may only make sense if the main character were speaking)
Revenant: Yess, you get extra content for bards, druids, clerics & paladins in IWD as far as I remember. This is true for IWD 2 in part, but dialogue skills play a bigger role since it's 3rd edition. As far as bard subquest in IWD, talking with the sea elf at the beginning gets you extra xp, you get gems for telling a tale to Easthaven townsfolk and there's also a bit with the thief general in Lower Dorn's Deep but my memory is a little fuzzy on that one.
As far as recommendations for IWD 2 parties, here's what I'm currently rolling with and having fun (I spen a good 4 hours thinking on & making this party, unlike a certain Adam Brenneke :p)
Aasimar Paladin 1/Sorcerer X - insanely high saving throws form the Paladin level and the Aasimar's natural high Charisma, you also get to wield thee cool Paladin sword later on
Half-orc Barbarian 4/Fighter x - meatshield and damage dealer
Human Bard 11/Sorcerer x - At bard 11 you get the best song. I maxed both Int and Cha on this one, he's the weakest party member, but serves as the diplomat
Tiefling Rogue 1/Conjurer or Enchanter X - You don't need more than 1 lvl of rogue for skills and Conjurer or Enchanter because you only get Evocaation as a prohibited school and your sorceres can cover that. Also, I highly recommend not having more than 1 wizard in your party as scrolls are pretty scarce.
Human Dreadmaster of Bane - awesome debuffer and controller - gets a special reward during a quest OMG SPOILARS!!!
Deep Gnome Druid/Painbearer of Ilmater - buffer/healer/scout, has a lot of tricks up its sleeve
Take note: clerics are overpowered as fuck in 3rd edition. You can never go wrong with taking 2 clerics in the party.
I also plan on taking this party through Heart of Fury mode (which I've never done before) once I finish on normal and see for myself if it's shit-balanced as some say or not.
And lastly, while I usually don't min/max in mah rpgs I recommend doing so IWD 2 as it can get pretty difficult otherwise.
I once played IWD2 with a barbarian, cleric archer, enchanter sorceror and a rogue/fighter or something for skills. Once I reached the ice fortress my barbarian was kicking the ass of everything by himself, the rest of the guys just standing around. At that point I just quit.
I should try an all-martial party once. That was hilarious(ly effective) in IWD1.
I just completed another IWD run, this time trying out a party that used a lot of arcane magic. It consisted of:
Human Paladin
Human Bard
Half Elf Fighter/Druid
Half Elf Ranger/Cleric
Half Elf Fighter/Mage/Thief
Half Elf Fighter/Mage/Cleric
I always enjoy IWD for the simple, but elegant storyline, beautiful artwork and music and all the little detailwork put into the gameworld. This party didn't do too badly but 3 arcane casters turned out to be a little much because:
1. There aren't enough scrolls for 3 arcane casters. I was 2/3 of the way through the game before I found my 2nd fireball scroll and I never found a third.
2. I didn't get to use high level spells. A six man party with triple-classed mages tops out with level six arcane spells unless you grind like mad.
3. All the top enemies have so much magic resistance that offensive magic can't touch them anyway.
On the bright side, it turns out that there's plenty of mage robes and you can save-scum for 2 sets of elven chainmail so there's no AC problems for all those arcane spellcasters.
Other stuff I hadn't remembered: The Paladin-only dialog is cute, but the holy avenger sword is kind of meh. I think someone mentioned it already, but the long sword of action +4 is better. The regeneration bard song is hugely helpful. Weapon drops are partially random, but some classes of weapons seem to be garbage regardless (short swords, quarterstaves).
My current opinion is that the ideal party consists of:
Bard (primarily an archer)
Fighter/Druid (WP points in scimitar and club)
Ranger/Cleric (points in maces/morningstars)
Fighter/Thief (points in daggers)
Fighter/Mage (points in large swords)
Ranger (two points in axes, no shield, axe of the minotaur lord)
As a public service announcement, I'd also like to point out that you can kill Malvadon without losing any of the blind sirfneblin.
Steps:
1. Cast Otulok's Resiliant Sphere on the iron golem on Malvadon's right.
2. Use stealth/invisibility to move an arcane caster to the room on Malvadon's left.
3a. Cast Otulok's Resiliant Sphere on the iron golem to Malvadon's left.
3b. Use stealth/invisibility on all other party members and move them next to Malvadon.
4. Beat Malvadon to death (be careful, if you kill him too quickly his dialog cut-scene will fire but he won't be alive to speak. You'll have to alt-tab out and use task manager to kill IWD)
5a. While you deal with the umber hulks and iron golems, make sure that all the sirfneblin flee the throne room.
5b. Try to end the fight in the room to Malvadon's left.
6. The real Malvadon is waiting just west of the throne room, wait for most of his buffs to expire, note that Stoneskin never will.
7. Cast haste and use stealth/invisibility on everyone, move them next to the real Malvadon.
8. Beat the real Malvadon to death, he'll probably get his first spell off but as long as the sirfneblin are clear of the throne room, it doesn't matter.
9. Profit.
Playing the first one for the first time. I'm not huge on dungeons, so the fact that this game is little more than a series of dungeons is a bit disappointing. Still, I feel like the more I play combat in the infinity engine, the more I figure out interesting, synergistic mixes of spells and party roles. Sometimes I feel like I'm finding new ways to abuse the system and even then the game proves a challenge. In that regards, it's keeping me hooked even if the game is 90% combat.
I'm currently finishing a playthrough of Icewind Dale 1 on Insane difficulty. I found it to be quite hard during the beginning, since monsters deal double damage and you lack good spells early on. However, as you level up (somewhat quickly due to the double exp), things get better and more balanced.
So far, I've found the Bard, Fighter/Druid and Fighter/Thief classes to be the most useful ones. Druid surprised me for having so many useful spells available early on. Fighter/Thief is insane on bow damage dealing, and Bards are very helpful as support casters with their mage spells and bard's songs. That healing song is VERY helpful.
You'll never get hit by anyone (except by bosses like Sherincal here), spells will never work on you, and you can evade the effects of your own Potions of Fiery Explosions.
Add in the Fire Shield from Zack Goosenberry for non-casters in the Ice Wall, and you pretty much have a guy who either never gets hit and ends up burning those who do.
I want to fire up another IWD2 game and I was wondering about the rogue class. I don't want to go full rogue since doing so would mean wasted levels. My plan is to start out as one and give him a few levels and afterwards continuing in something else such as a wizard or ranger/fighter. The question is, how many after how many levels of rogue is it safe to switch? That is, will I have trouble opening chests or disarming traps if I only have a couple of level's worth of skill points allocated in the respective skills?
catfood 1 level of rogue should be enough, especially if you're gonna switch to wizard later since he keeps getting many skill points due to his high INT and can probably moonlight some of the rogue skills that you feel are lacking at a certain point. I'd say 2 lvls at most, if you want to be on the safe side (and get evasion). Keep in mind that open lock is not that important since you can have your fighters bash locked chests open or your wizard cast knock.
You are not that hard up for level .Rogue is a great class for archer. Get a rogue a good bow and use them how many level you want.4? 8? Even full hog 10 level? Remember "archer not backstabber" and you will be fine.
Me, my party has two rogues, both archers. They earn 10-12% of kill xp, each. One is a intimidator, F4-Ro? To get full specialization on bow, and full Intimidate. PLus she's a backup detector, always open up detection to watch for some really bastard dark elves. The another is a scout R10-W? Deep Gnome Scout. She wandering all over the place to discover all the traps and trigger points .Due to her that I know IWD2 use triggers to teleport troops to behind my defense line. Or trigger to initiate cutscene.
This is a collection of tweaks that have been assembled for Icewind Dale. Version 14 features some bug fixes in various components and the return of the Two-Handed Bastard Swords component. This mod is a compilation of cosmetic changes, and tweaks. Some of these were fan requests, others are needed fixes, and others simply make dealing with the more irritating aspects of the game engine easier. Each component can be installed separately so the player can pick and choose only which ones they wish to install. Download the mod, check out the readme or project page, or come participate in the forums.
Started up a game of Icewind Dale II. Within the first hour my paladin refused a reward because she said it's against her order to gain monetary wealth and people stated commenting on the fact I had a Drow elf in my party. Seems far more reactive to the kinds of people you have in your party than the other IE games.
